Carlota's Legacy (Jewel Trilogy, 2)
Claude Brickell, 2014
Bricbooks
143 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780557123100 (Kindle)
Summary
This modern-day adventure, rooted in a rich, historical past, has young, accomplished art historian Michael Bennington approached at a New York jewelry auction by a pleasant enough couple from Belgium, nobility actually, who wish to engage him in a curious assignment. He must track down the whereabouts of a priceless diamond and ruby necklace the couple thought they owned, but after having theirs appraised, discovered it was only a cut-glass fake.
Michael accepts the assignment with a heightened passion—his specialty is 19th century jewels—and he’s off to Mexico City where the real necklace originated. From there he traces its path to St. Petersburg, Paris, Los Angeles and New York and ends up in Brussels for a harrowing life-and-death finale. The quirky former owners of the artifact are all beyond belief but historically accurate nonetheless and their exotic and lurid pasts both astound and captivate.
Carlota’s Legacy continues the entertaining exploits of the likable Bennington character in the second installment.
This is the second installment in the Jewel Trilogy: it is preceded by The Napoleon Connection (2014) and followed The Brotherhood Wars (2014).